Posts Tagged ‘OTT’

Video compression specialist ATEME announced 2017 revenue of €49.6 million (~$61.8M USD), an increase of 29.3% versus full year 2016. At a constant exchange rate, year-over-year growth was even greater at 32.5%.

On a quarterly basis, Q4 2017 had revenue of €16.4 million, a 38.3% increase over Q4 2016.

Management called attention to 2017 representing the sixth straight year of revenue growth. Annual revenue increases averaged 23% per year during 2011-2015, and have accelerated since. In a related observation (and given the growth stats, perhaps justified), ATEME has adopted the tag line, “the emerging leader of video delivery.”

In its press release, ATEME also highlighted a strong Q4 in the EMEA region and a multi-million software contract with a major US service provider.

Revenue by Geography:

ATEME benefited from growth in all regions during 2017.

Revenues for the EMEA region during the year were €18.6 million, a 14.1% increase 2016. As a percentage of total sales, EMEA was 38.4% of revenue during 2017, which compares to 43.5% during 2016.

The USA / Canada region contributed revenue of €15.7 million, a 31.4% rise over the year-earlier period. USA / Canada was 32.4% percent of total sales in the period versus 31.9% during 2016.

Latin America was responsible for €7.9 million of revenue during 2017, a substantial increase of 90.4% versus 2016. For 2017, Latin America accounted for 16.5% of total sales, compared to 11.2% during 2016.

Asia Pacific accounted for €6.1 million of revenue, an increase of 22.3% versus the full year 2016. The Asia Pacific region contributed 12.7% of total sales during 2017, versus 13.4% during 2016. This adds to growth of 80% in 2016.

The growth in the Latin America region was attributed to strong demand for digital terrestrial distribution solutions.

Business Outlook:

Commenting on the 2018 outlook, ATEME President Michel Artieres stated, “The outlook for 2018 remains positive and we aim to deliver further healthy growth in all regions. We will continue to focus on developing or acquiring new solutions aimed at expanding our addressable market beyond the video headend segment, downstream to the distribution network.” The reference to ‘acquiring new solutions’ may suggest some upcoming corporate initiatives on the part of ATEME.

Multi-billion dollar, multi-national Amdocs has signed a definitive agreement to acquire media service provider Vubiquity.

The $224 million cash deal has been approved by both the Boards of Directors of Vubiquity and Amdocs, and is expected to close during the second quarter of FY2018.

Amdocs (NASDAQ: DOX) is a provider customer service software to communications and media customers such as OSS (operational support systems) and BSS (business support systems) systems. This acquisition is a significant expansion into the media industry for Amdocs, who did not have a booth at this past IBC and does not have a booth at this upcoming NAB Show (at the time of this writing).

Amdocs had already started to move deeper into the media technology sector with its September 2016 acquisition of Vindicia, a provider of subscription and payment solutions. Vindicia’s payment solutions support several digital offers such as the BBC & iTV Britbox service and NBA League Pass. Amdocs purchased Vindicia for $90M.

This acquisition is a much further move into the media supply chain. Vubiquity is a managed service provider connecting content owners and publishers with video distributors – both traditional PayTV operators and OTT publishers. In its collateral Vubiquity cites relationships with over 650 premium content producers (film studios, television networks, etc …) and over 1,000 global video distributors (PayTV operators, OTT publishers, etc …).

Vubiquity had raised a total of $237.2 million over four rounds of funding between 2007 and 2012. Current private equity owners include Columbia Capital and The Carlyle Group, whom invested $100 million of new funding as part of the Company’s purchase of SeaChange’s On Demand Group in 2012.

A series of M&A transactions built Vubiquity, beginning with the 2009 merger of Avail Media and TVN Entertainment – subsequently “Avail-TVN.” Avail-TVN rebranded as Vubiquity in early 2013.

Later in 2013, Darcy Antonellis, then Warner Bros. CTO, joined Vubiquity as CEO. Darcy’s notable resume also includes two speaking appearances at Devoncroft’s annual Media Technology Business Summit (see photo on left). At the closing of the transaction Darcy will join Amdcos as head of the Amdocs Media Division.

More recent deals for the DETE (Digital-End-to-End) service from the Warner Bros. Technical Operations and Juice Worldwide, a digital supply chain solution company, further expanded Vubiquity’s portfolio.

The press release announcing the transaction states the “impact of the acquisition on Amdocs’ diluted non-GAAP earnings per share is expected to be neutral in fiscal year 2018, and accretive thereafter.” Since this is a cash transaction, it is difficult to derive any meaningful view on deal multiples from that statement. However, Amdocs offered greater detail during its earnings call with analysts.

Tamar Rapaport-Dagim, CFO Amdocs, indicated an expectation of Vubiquity to contribute “approximately $100 million in the first 12 months after closing.” Ms. Rapaport-Dagim continued, “Vubiquity, as you can understand from the message that we think it will be a neutral impact on EPS in fiscal 2018 it’s coming with a low margin to start with. And we believe we can build it up along the time quite quickly, given both the top-line synergies and the cost structure synergies we see in front as opportunities.”

Using expected revenue contribution as a proxy for annual revenue suggests a deal multiple of 2.2x sales.

The stated level of revenue contribution contrasts with several earlier public data points on Vubiquity’s annual sales. At the time of its rebrand, Management gave public guidance of annual revenue in excess of $250 million. Also, the inc5000 lists Vubiquity’s annual revenue in 2013 at $296.8 million. Some caution is appropriate in concluding revenue has meaningfully decreased since Vubiquity’s business model may have passed thru content licensing revenue. Such mechanisms or accounting treatment could result in materially different statements on revenue, depending on the context of the statement.

All communications by Amdocs cited a view of convergence between communications and media & entertainment. “Investing in the growth engines of tomorrow is a core discipline of Amdocs and we see considerable opportunity resulting from the increased convergence of communications with media and entertainment” stated Eli Gelman, CEO Amdocs.

Mr. Gelman provided further commentary on the rationale during Amdocs earnings call with analysts.

“…we see increasing convergence between traditional wireless and Pay TV distributors, content owners and large OTT players. By acquiring Vubiquity, we believe Amdocs will be uniquely positioned to address the requirements of distributors, content owners and web players as the lines between each become increasingly blurred.

Second, media and entertainment companies like Disney, HBO and Time Warner are reaching out directly to the end users with a direct content-to-consumer business model or what is called D2C direct-to-consumer. This trend requires new systems to support an improved customer experience that we believe Amdocs is well-positioned to provide.”

Ericsson announced two major developments with its media operations: (1) the sale of a majority interest of 51% in its Media Solutions Business to private equity firm One Equity Partners; (2) and its decision to maintain ownership of Ericsson’s former Broadcast and Media Services, which was renamed Red Bee Media in November 2017.

The Media Solution Business comprises Ericsson’s compression and PayTV product portfolio built in part through the acquisitions of Tandberg Television (2007), Microsoft Mediaroom (2013), Fabrix (2014), Azuki Systems (2014), and Envivio (2015). Full year revenue for the Media Solution Business is around 3 billion SEK or approximately $380 million USD.

Red Bee Media encompasses Ericsson’s managed services portfolio in the broadcast sector, which was built in part through the acquisitions of Technicolor’s Broadcast Services (2012), Red Bee Media (2013), and FYI Television (2016). Annual revenue for Red Bee Media is approximately 3.5 billion SEK or around $444 million USD.

These announcements came after a nearly nine month evaluation of strategic alternatives for the businesses. The initial announcement was made shortly before the 2017 NAB Show in March of last year.

Challenging operating performance for these businesses was also initially disclosed in early 2017. It continued. Ericsson’s Q3 2017 financial results showed a segment operating margin of -77% for the year-to-date nine month period in the Other segment where the Media Solution and Red Bee Media businesses were reported. Further financial information indicated Media Solution and Red Bee Media represented around 75% of the sales reported in the Other segment during the third quarter of 2017. In the most recent announcement, Management stated substantially improvements had been made during 2017, especially in regards to margins.

During its conference call with analysts, Ericsson indicated adjusted operating income for Red Bee Media was approximately -38M USD for 2017, though “steering towards breakeven.”

While improved, the Media Solutions business operating losses remained “substantially higher” than Red Bee Media in 2017.

The majority sale to One Equity Partners is anticipated to close in the third quarter of 2018. As outlined in the public statements, at the time of closing employees, contractors, and specified assets and liabilities will transfer to the new company. Since Ericsson is retaining a 49% ownership position, the Company will continue to report its portion of profit and loss in its financial statements. No financial terms of the transaction were provided.

The decision to retain Red Bee Media was reached after considering a variety of alternatives. While Ericsson disclosed it receive bids for Red Bee Media, Management concluded these bids did not reflect the value of the business. In fact, Management stated in its public remarks that “upside from continued development was deemed to be significant.”

Several factors associated with the transaction are worthy of emphasis. These combined businesses represent around 3% of Ericsson’s annual revenue. While not significant assets in the context of Ericsson, these are considerable product and service portfolios in the global media technology sector.

The press releases announcing the strategic initiatives admonish several statistics highlighting the significant footprint of these businesses, among these almost 4,000 combined employees and a tier1 list of media customers. The consideration of their customers was apparent in Ericsson’s decision making. In fact, Ericsson’s President and CEO Börje Ekholm made explicit reference to this in the press release, stating “We are confident that the direction we announce today will enable us to create the best long-term value, for both our customers and our shareholders.”

Along with an index tracking Cloud Adoption, Devoncroft is also publishing the first installment of an index tracking IP-Based Infrastructure Adoption in the global broadcast and media industry. You may download a complimentary copy by clicking the below link.

The index is intended as a public reference on the media industry’s historical, current, and forecasted adoption of IP-based technology infrastructure for media operations.

Using a similar methodology as Devoncroft’s Cloud Adoption Index, the IP Adoption Index combines a decade of Devoncroft research on technology adoption in the media sector with annual Big Broadcast Survey data to arrive a simple, single value representing both current and anticipated adoption of IP-based technology infrastructure.

We will publish updates to this index at regular intervals based on the ongoing research activities of Devoncroft.

How to Interpret the Index
We have chosen an index to keep the presentation simple and well-understood. Please note the calculated index values do not have standalone meaning. Rather, given the construction of the index, the percentage change in the index is a proxy for the percentage change and anticipated percentage change in the adoption profile of IP-based technology infrastructure.

Feedback, Comments
This index was only possible after consultation with many industry stakeholders on how best to combine and visualize the underlying data. Thank you to all our supporters who made this index possible.

We plan to continue to improve this regular index based on feedback from the global media technology community.

If you would like to share any comments or suggestions for the index or if you would like to become a direct supporter of the index, please contact us.

Upcoming Index Expansion
A more detailed version of the index will publish later this month providing greater detail on the individual research components constituting the IP Adoption Index.

It combines a decade of Devoncroft research on technology adoption in the media sector with Big Broadcast Survey data to arrive a simple, single value representing both current and anticipated adoption of cloud technologies.

We will publish updates to this index at regular intervals based on the ongoing research activities of Devoncroft.

How to Interpret the Index
We have chosen an index to keep the presentation simple and well-understood. Please note the calculated index values do not have standalone meaning. Rather, given the construction of the index, the percentage change in the index is a proxy for the percentage change and anticipated percentage change in the adoption profile of cloud-based technologies.

Feedback, Comments
This index was only possible after consultation with many industry stakeholders on how best to combine and visualize the underlying data. Thank you to all our supporters who made this index possible.

We plan to continue to improve this regular index based on feedback from the global media technology community.

If you would like to share any comments or suggestions for the index or if you would like to become a direct supporter of the index, please contact us.

Upcoming Index Expansion
A more detailed version of the index will publish later this month providing greater detail on the individual research components constituting the Cloud Adoption Index.

This is the first in a series of articles about findings from Devoncroft’s 2017 Big Broadcast Survey (BBS), an annual global study of broadcast industry trends, technology purchasing plans, and benchmarking of broadcast technology vendor brands. Several thousand broadcast professionals in 100+ countries took part in the 2017 BBS, making it the largest and most comprehensive market study ever conducted in the broadcast industry.

Measuring the Most Important Trends in the Broadcast and Digital Media Technology Industry

We would like to start by again thanking all the professionals who participate in the BBS each year. We recognize it is a lengthy and detailed survey, so are especially thankful that you take time from your busy schedules to participate, and we love (and read all of) your feedback.

One of the key outputs from the BBS is the annual BBS Broadcast Industry Global Trend Index. This is a ranking of the broadcast industry trends that are considered by BBS respondents the most commercially important to their businesses in any given year.

In order to ensure the relevance of the trends we measure each year, we spend a considerable amount of time seeking feedback about the structure of our reports from a wide variety of industry professionals.

As part of this process, the composition of the BBS Broadcast Industry Global Trend Index is reviewed each year in conjunction with Devoncroft clients, broadcast technology end-users, and a variety of domain experts. New trends are added to the Index when BBS stakeholders believe that the value of this additional trend information outweighs the resulting distortion of the year-over-year comparisons.

A deliberately conservative strategy is used when considering adjustments to the index. By keeping changes to a minimum, we allow for a more straightforward comparison of how trends were ranked versus previous iterations of the survey.

Based on discussions with clients, end-users, and experts during the planning stages of the 2017 BBS project, we decided to add both “High Dynamic Range (HDR)” and “Next generation broadcasting (ATSC 3.0, DVB T-2 etc)”, and remove “Remove Reduction in carbon emissions / other green initiatives.”

The 2017 BBS Broadcast Industry Global Trend Index

To create the 2017 BBS Broadcast Industry Global Trend Index, we presented BBS respondents with a list of 19 industry trends and asked them to identify the one trend they consider to be “most important” to their business, the one trend they consider to be “second most important” to their business, and the other trends (plural) they consider to be “also very important.”

We then apply a statistical weighting to these results, based on how research participants ranked the commercial importance of each trend.

Please note that our goal from this question is to help clients gain insight into the business drivers behind the respondent’s answer. Therefore, respondents were asked to rank these trends in the context of the commercial importance to their business, rather than “industry buzz,” or “cool technology,” or marketing hype. The 2017 BBS Broadcast Industry Global Trend Index is shown below.

When reviewing the data presented above, readers should note the following about the 2017 BBS Broadcast Industry Global Trend Index:

It is a measure of what research participants say is commercially important to their businesses in the future, not what they are doing now, or where they are spending money today (these topics will be addressed in future posts)

The chart above is visualized as a weighted index, not as a measure of the number of people that said which trend was most important to them

It measures the responses of all technology purchasers (i.e. non-vendors) who participated in the 2017 BBS, regardless of company type, company size, geographic location, job title, etc. Thus the responses of any demographic group such as a particular company type or geographic location may vary widely from the results presented in this article.

Analyzing the 2017 BBS Broadcast Industry Global Trend Index

Multi-platform content delivery (MPCD) is cited by a wide margin as the most important trend commercially to respondent businesses. This is not surprising given the continued rise of new distribution mediums and devices. Indeed, research participants have repeatedly stated multi-platform content delivery is the most commercially important trend to their business since the 2010 edition of the BBS.

However, our discussions with broadcasters, content owners, and technology vendors indicate that despite the obvious fact that the way content is delivered and consumed has changed forever, this is only now beginning to translate into profitable revenue streams for end-users. There are a number of reasons why this is the case, and these have significant implications for content owners, broadcasters, and technology vendors.

There are quite a few other interesting things to consider in the BBS Broadcast Industry Global Trend Index.

For over the past decade and a half the transition to HDTV operations has been a major driver of end-user technology budgets, and therefore technology product sales. The first BBS Broadcast Industry Global Trend Index, published in 2009, ranked the transition to HD as the #1 trend globally. In the almost decade since, the transition to HD operations has drifted lower in the rankings based on the continued adoption of HD technology infrastructure globally. For the first time in 2014, the transition to HD operations was not ranked among the top five trends by respondents, instead ranking #6. In 2017, the transition to HD operations declined further, now ranking #15.

A trend also showing maturity in the 2017 BBS Broadcast Industry Global Trend Index is “file-based / tapeless workflows.” While the trend ranked #4 in the 2016 BBS Broadcast Industry Global Trend index, it declined to #11 in the 2017 index.

Over the past decade, we’ve observed a pattern whereby broadcasters, who have invested considerable time, effort, and money into transitioning their operations to HD, next shifted their focus towards increasing the efficiency of their operations. As a result, efficiency became a key driver of broadcast technology purchasing. The results of the 2017 index suggests file-based workflow penetration has passed a milestone of maturity. Greater detail is available on the state of file-based workflow penetration in the 2017 BBS Market Report.

A trend that has increased in importance over the past several years is “IP networking & content delivery,” which is ranked as the #2 most important trend in the BBS Broadcast Industry Global Trend Index.

The move to IP-based infrastructure has increased in importance in response to several market developments. Based on our research, end-user motivations for moving to IP-based infrastructure are more nuanced than simply generating operational efficiencies, though this goal is an important component. Rather, end-user responses to the Big Broadcast Survey are consistent with a more encompassing goal of moving to fundamentally different technology infrastructures to better support evolving media business models.

While the move to IP-based infrastructure is still at the stage of early adopters in broadcast operational environments, there were several notable developments during 2017, which are reflected in the research gathered in the 2017 BBS Reports.

The #3 ranked trend in the 2017 BBS Broadcast Industry Global Trend Index is “4K / UHD.” Many in the industry believe 4K / UHD is the next major driver of infrastructure upgrades – similar to the transition to HD over a decade ago.

We provide significant coverage of the transition of global broadcast infrastructure in the 2017 BBS Global Market Report (available for purchase). This includes a breakdown of the current and projected future infrastructure installment across analog, standard definition, high definition, 3Gbps operations, and 4K / UHD.

“Cloud computing / virtualization,” is the #4 ranked trend in 2017. It is not surprising “Cloud computing / virtualization” is a highly rated given the broader excitement in the technology sector for leveraging cloud infrastructure.

But what are buyers of broadcast technology actually planning to deploy in the cloud, and do they actually trust cloud technology? Perhaps more than any other topic, the industry’s plans for cloud have evolved considerably over the past several years.

There is a substantial amount of additional data captured in the 2017 BBS on what technology segments end-users are deploying and planning to deploy cloud services, along with what efficiencies they hope to achieve by deploying cloud Services. This data is presented in the 2017 BBS Global Market Report (available for purchase).

“Improvements in compression efficiency,” which is ranked #5 in the 2017 BBS Broadcast Industry Global Trend Index is consistent with the desire for increased efficiency. With content distribution models having migrated from single linear broadcast channels, to multi-channel Pay TV playout, to a totally on-demand environment, high quality compression is a critical success factor for broadcasters and content playout platforms.

A plethora of new channels, and the desire for simultaneous bandwidth saving and increased image quality for MPCD services have driven an increasing focus on high quality compression systems. For the past several years this has resulted in better MPEG-2 and H.264 compression products for primary distribution, contribution, and redistribution to consumers. H.265 (HEVC) compression technology holds the promise of further reducing the bandwidth required to deliver high quality images, particularly for 4K / UHD channels.

The information in this article is based on select findings from the 2017 Big Broadcast Survey (BBS), a global study of broadcast industry trends, technology purchasing plans, and benchmarking of broadcast technology vendor brands. Several thousand broadcast professionals in 100+ countries took part in the 2017 BBS, making it the largest and most comprehensive market study ever conducted in the broadcast industry. The BBS is published annually by Devoncroft Partners.

Granular analysis of these results is available as part of various paid-for reports based on the 2017 BBS data set. For more information about this report, please contact Devoncroft Partners

Last month, more than 1,000 NAB Show attendees packed the largest room at the Las Vegas Convention Center for the Devoncroft Partners Media Technology Business Summit, to hear industry thought leaders discuss market trends and technology deployment strategies.

We have now published our analysis of the market in a 180-page report. The report is available for purchase from our online store. Alternatively, if you are a buyer, user, or supplier of media technology products or services, then we will send you a complimentary copy of report in exchange for taking our annual Big Broadcast Survey on industry trends.

The report is the culmination of several months of research in the media technology sector. It incorporates data gathered in over 100 pre-show interviews of executives in the media technology sector, over 100 executive meetings at the NAB Show, year-over-year trend and project analysis from the last eight years of Big Broadcast Survey studies, and a detailed tracking of major announcements by media companies and media technology suppliers.

The interactive survey will ask custom questions based on your specific interests. It will take 10-30 minutes to complete, and you can pause the survey at any time and restart where you left off by simply clicking the link again. All individual answers are kept strictly confidential.

Shortly after completing the survey, we will send you a link to download a complimentary copy of the 180-page report.

Recognizing the value of your time, in addition to the 180-page report, you will also receive:

A 50+ page summary of this year’s market study as soon as it’s available

One or more entries into the sweepstakes drawing to win 1 of 10 prizes: one of ten $500 (USD) Amazon gift cards. Please click here for full terms and conditions

Whether you are a supplier, buyer, or investor in the media technology sector, you won’t want to miss the “Media Technology Business Summit” at the upcoming NAB Show.

Now in its sixth installment at the annual NAB Show, this half day session will take place on Sunday April 23rd from 11am to 3pm in room N249 of the Las Vegas Convention Center. Please make note of the early start time versus last year.

Following the same format as prior years, the Summit will feature executive panel discussions across the entire media value chain. C-level executives from leading broadcasters, service providers, media technology vendors, and IT vendors will offer candid assessments of the business impact of market developments on their business models, operational practices, and strategic decision making.

In addition to a panel of broadcaster Chief Technology Officers (CTOs), we will also have a panel of broadcaster Chief Financial Officers (CFOs) for this year’s Summit. The audience will then have the opportunity to hear from both the technology and financial decision-makers at high-profile broadcasters.

As a complement to the panel discussions and keynote presentations, we will review excerpts from the latest findings of Devoncroft’s Big Broadcast Survey, the industry’s definitive demand-side study of the broadcast and media sector.

The agenda with confirmed speakers is included below. It is also available on the NAB Show website.

This conference is intended for senior executives from technology vendors, end-users, and investment firms in the media technology sector. A NAB Show badge is required for admission. If you haven’t registered for the NAB Show, you may use the guest code ATT2 (link to registration) to receive a Free Exhibits Pass.

Approximately 700 executives attended this standing-room only event at the NAB Show 2016. We hope to see you there.

Dolby announced fiscal fourth quarter and full year revenue for the twelve months ending September 30, 2016. 2016 fiscal year revenue was $1,025.7 million, a 5.68% increase versus the 2015 fiscal year.

Full year revenue was within the guidance provided at the end of fiscal 2015 for total revenue between $1 billion and $1.03 billion.

2016 FY GAAP net income was $185.9 million or $1.81 earnings per share (diluted). This represents a 2.5% increase over the net income for the 2015 fiscal year of $181.4 million ($1.75 earnings per share).

GAAP gross margins were 89.4% for the year, a slight decrease versus the gross margins of 90.2% from the year earlier period. Operating margins were 23%, an increase of 100 basis points over the operating margins from fiscal 2015.

Licensing revenue for fiscal year 2016 was $917.0 million, an increase of 5.6% versus fiscal year 2015.

Product revenue was $90.5 million for the year, an increase of 7.9% compared to the 2015 fiscal year.

Services revenue were $18.2 million during fiscal year 2016, a decrease of 2.5% against 2015.

Product gross margins for 2016 were 28%, a substantial increase over the 16% gross margins from 2015.

2016 Fiscal Year Licensing Revenue by Customer Vertical:

Licensing revenue in the Broadcast vertical for televisions and set-top box sales was 46% of total licensing revenue or $421.8 million during fiscal 2016. On an aggregate basis, broadcast licensing grew 10.4% versus the 2015 fiscal year.

As part of management’s prepared comments on the Dolby’s earnings call, President and CEO Kevin Yeaman drew attention to the strong performance in the broadcast sector. “We had another strong year in broadcast. Dolby Audio is an established format in developed markets like North America and Western Europe, and we are well positioned in areas like Africa, India and China, when the transition to digital broadcast is underway. Future growth in broadcast will come from the continued migration of emerging markets to digital televisions and the rollout of high-definition and 4K set-top boxes with Dolby Audio in both developed and emerging markets” said Mr. Yeaman (Sourced from Seeking Alpha transcript).

Fiscal Q4 2016 Results:

Fiscal fourth quarter revenue was $233 million, flat against the year earlier period, and a decrease of 16.1% versus the preceding quarter, FQ3 2016. Management attributed the sequential drop in revenue to the higher timing of licensing payments in Q3 compared to Q4.

For the quarter, Dolby’s GAAP net income was $23.9 million or $0.23 earnings per share, a 48.6% decline when measured against the fiscal fourth quarter of 2015, and a 62.4% decline against the preceding quarter.

GAAP Gross Margins were 87% during the fourth quarter, a 210 basis point decline from the year earlier period and a 410 basis point decline versus FQ3 2016. Operating margins were 16%, an increase over the 12% from FQ4 2015 and a decrease versus the 29% operating margins during the preceding quarter.

Management guidance at the end of third fiscal quarter was for revenue in the range of $220 million to $230 million for the fourth quarter with gross margins between 88% and 89%, and GAAP earnings per share of $0.16 and $0.22. Dolby exceeded its guidance on both revenue and earnings per share, though underperformed on gross margins.

Dolby Atmos is now installed or committed in over 2,400 cinematic screens worldwide. 550 feature films using Dolby Atmos have been announced or released.

The first televisions incorporating Dolby Vision become available in the past year. LG is including Dolby Vision in their OLED and Super UHD LCD TVs; VIZIO is including Dolby Vision in their R, P, and M Series; and TCL and Skyworth are also shipping TVs with Dolby Vision. Content incorporating Dolby Vision is now available from Warner Bros., Sony Pictures, MGM, Universal, Lionsgate, Netflix and Amazon Studios.

Over 30 Dolby Cinema locations were added during 2016, bringing the total to over 40.

“We are well on our way to establishing that Dolby Vision is the best way to experience HDR content” stated Mr. Yeaman on Dolby’s earning call with analysts. “Our job this year is to accelerate the deployment of Dolby Vision” continued Mr. Yeaman.

Financial Guidance

Dolby’s guidance for the fiscal year 2017 is for revenue between $1.06 billion and $1.09 billion. Broadcast licensing revenue is expected to remain relatively flat in 2017.

Guidance for the first quarter of fiscal 2017 is revenue in the range of $250 million to $260 million, gross margins between 88% and 89%, and earnings per share between $0.34 and $0.40.

Evertz announced revenue for the first quarter of its 2017 fiscal year, which ended on July 31, 2016. Revenue for the quarter was C$87.0 million, up 2.5% versus the same period a year ago, and down 9.7% versus the previous quarter.

The strengthening US dollar contributed a foreign exchange gain of C$6.6 million during the quarter.

Net earnings for the quarter were C$18.6 million (C$0.25 earnings per share), flat versus the first fiscal quarter of 2016, and an increase of 129.6% versus the preceding quarter. The company generated C$19.9 million cash from operations in the quarter. This compares to cash used by operations of C$7.8 million during the same period last year and cash from operations of C$10.1 million during the previous quarter.

Revenue results for the quarter were below the consensus estimates of equity analysts of C$95.1 million, while earnings results were above the consensus estimates of analysts of C$0.24 per share.

During management’s exchange with analysts, EVP Brian Campbell attributed the lower level of revenue in the quarter to the typical lumpiness of orders along with the stretching of certain orders into future quarters.

The Company said its shipments during August 2016 were C$31 million, and that its purchase order backlog at the end of the quarter was in excess of C$70 million. The combined shipments and backlog of C$101 million is a record level for Evertz.

The top ten customers in the quarter accounted for 30% of revenue and no customer accounted for an excess of 6% of revenue. Evertz had 104 individual customers each representing over $200,000 of revenue.

Gross margins in the quarter were 57.3%, down slightly from 56.4% last year and also down from 57.1% last quarter. For the quarter operating margins were 28.5%, compared to 29.9% during the same period last year and 23.9% in the FQ4 2016.

Evertz ended the quarter with C$125.4 million of cash and cash equivalents up slightly from C$123.1 million at the end of last quarter.

Revenue by Geography:

Revenue in the US/Canada region was C$52.1 million, an increase of 4.2% versus the same period a year ago, and flat versus the previous quarter. US/Canada sales were 59.9% of total revenue during the quarter, up from 58.9% of revenue during the same period a year ago, and a substantial increase versus the 53% contribution during the preceding quarter.

International revenue was C$34.9 million, flat versus the previous year’s result and a decrease of 22.6% when compared to the previous quarter. International sales were 40.1% of total revenue, down from 41.1% last year and 47.0% last quarter.

Operating Expenditures by Function:

R&D expenses (before tax credits) in the second quarter were C$17.5 million, an increase of 7.4% versus the same period last year, and an increase of 1.2% versus the previous quarter. R&D expenses were 20.1% of revenue in the quarter, higher on a percentage basis than the 19.2% last year and the 17.9% last quarter.

Selling and administrative expenses for the quarter were C$14.9 million, a slight increase of 0.7% versus last year, and a decrease of 8.0% versus the preceding quarter. Selling and administrative expenses represented approximately 17.1% of revenue in the quarter versus 19.2% of revenue during the same period last year, and 17.9% of revenue in the previous quarter.

While Evertz declined to provide an update on the number of SDVN deployments (over 50 SDVN installments as of the 2016 NAB Show), the Company did issue a press release on the receipt of a C$13.5 million purchase order for a “state-of-the-art” IP facility for a US customer. The purchase order includes multiple EXE hyperscale and IPX modular switch cores, IP media gateways, and compression and control solutions.

In responding to a question by Thanos Moschopoulos of BMO Capital Markets on the interest level of cloud for Evertz customers, Mr. Campbell provided commentary on cloud adoption in the media sector. “It’s very much early days, but it is meaningful” stated Mr. Campbell. “And Evertz is well down the path in virtualizing the important components for customers to meet to their needs, whether that’s in a public cloud or in a private cloud or hybrid” continued Mr. Campbell.